El CAJON – The Grossmont College Griffin Women's basketball team began the 34th annual Grossmont College Holiday Tournament on Monday, Dec. 19 with a 40-39 loss to the Cuesta Cougars.
The Griffins (0-4) were led by Jaleah Raymond with 13 points.
Head Coach Karen Caires said after the game, "I was really proud of the girls' grits and tenacity that the players showed tonight. Our free throw percentage needs to improve and finishing shots at the rim. With six players, it was fantastic effort and look forward to continuing to grow. It was also great to be back in the G house playing at home!"
The Griffins and Cougars (4-8) played a very defensive first quarter with Grossmont exiting the opening ten minutes with an 8-6 lead.
The Green and Gold were outscored in the second quarter 10-8 to have the halftime score be 16-14 in Cuesta's favor.
After a defensive first half that saw a total of 30 points, the two teams combined for 25 points in the third quarter alone. In that third quarter, Cuesta took their largest lead of the game at 23-16 with 6:29 left in the quarter. But the Griffins closed out the final 6:29 on a 10-6 run.
That run continued into the fourth quarter ultimately ending in a 20-6 run across 9:36, ending at the 3:07 mark of the fourth quarter. Cuesta fought back with a 9-2 run across 2:22 to make it 38-all with 4:31 remaining.
With just 15 seconds left Caitlyn Stayner sunk a free throw to take a 39-38 lead. Cuesta called a timeout and under rules that were enacted a few years ago, advanced the ball to the front court with 13 seconds left. Ten seconds later, the Cougars scored a basket to take a 40-39 lead. Grossmont immediately called a timeout to advance the ball as well. Sadly however, the Griffins couldn't hit a jump shot at the buzzer.
In other Day one action, the LA Trade-Tech Lady Beavers defeated Cypress College by a 78–60 score. Pamela Gonzalez led all scorers with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Three other Beavers joined Gonzalez in double-figures. Victor Valley took down MiraCosta by a 74-48 score. Victor Valley's Jordan Brooks led all scorers with a game high 23 points. Two other Rams joined Brooks in double-figures.
Day two will begin with Victor Valley taking on LA Trade-Tech at 2:00pm,followed two hours later by College of the Desert Vs. Cuesta and the day will conclude with MiraCosta facing Cypress.
